This set of twenty-four lectures introduces the student to some of the central views in the world``s diverse philosophical traditions. Using the orientation of Western thought as a departure, the course considers some of the alternative worldviews that developed in Africa, the Americas, India, China, and Japan.

Course Lecture Titles: 1. Beginnings 2. Western metaphysics 3. Soul and Body 4. The Good Life and the Role of Reason 5. Western and African Thought Compared 6. Traditional Beliefs and Philosophy 7. American Indian Thinking 8. Mesoamerican Thought 9. Ethics and Social Thought in Latin America 10. Indian Though on Supreme Reality 11. The Dualism of the Samkhya School 12. Vedic Thought and Monism 13. The Bhagavad Gita 14. The Buddha’s Teachings 15. Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism 16. Nagarjuna’s Interpretation of Buddhism 17. The Chinese Conception of Reality 18. Confucius 19. Confucian Virtue 20. Confucian Schools – Mencius and Xunzi 21. The Daoist Response to Confucianism 22. Daoism and Early Buddhism in China 23. Buddhism in China and Japan 24. Synthesis